Raghuram Rajan was offered RBI deputy governor’s post in 2004

Raghuram Rajan became the RBI governor in September 2013. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint

New Delhi:Eminent economist Raghuram Rajan was initially offered the job of Reserve Bank od India’s (RBI’s) deputy governor which he did not accept, and a decade later he joined the central bank as a governor.

In his autobiography Advice and Dissent: My Life in Public Service, former RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy said he had offered Rajan deputy governor’s post in the apex bank. “When Rakesh Mohan went as economic affairs secretary (in October 2004), we had to look for a successor. I requested Raghuram Rajan to join me as deputy governor when he happened to call on me in Mumbai...He agreed to give a thought of it. However, after going back to the US, he expressed his regret,” Reddy wrote.

Reddy further wrote he explained to Rajan that “we would require somebody like him so that the country could avail of the valuable services over the long run, virtually hinting that he could one day be the governor”.

Rajan at that time was the chief economist and director of research at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Rajan, who is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth currently, joined the RBI as the 23rd governor in September 2013.

Reddy was the governor of the RBI from 2003 to 2008. He was also the chairman of the 14th Finance Commission in 2013-14.

Rakesh Mohan held the position of deputy governor of the RBI from September 9, 2002 to October 31, 2004 and also from July 2, 2005 to June 10, 2009. During the period October 31, 2004 to July 2, 2005 he was secretary department of economic affairs in the ministry of finance.